After leading the Broncos to a historic season, Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler has been named the recipient of the 2025 Spencer Penrose Award, presented annually to the CCM/AHCA Division I men’s hockey national coach of the year.
Ferschweiler garners the honor for the first time and becomes the first WMU head coach to claim the award.
Ferschweiler is also only the third NCHC coach to earn the Penrose Award, joining former North Dakota coach Brad Berry, who won the award in 2020, and former Denver coach Jim Montgomery, who took home the honor in 2017. Ferschweiler will be presented with his award in person at the 2025 AHCA Convention held at the Hyatt Coconut Point Resort in Bonita Springs, Fla., on May 4.
Along with the Spencer Penrose Award, Ferschweiler earned his second NCHC Herb Brooks Coach of the Year honor in 2025, also winning it in 2023.
The native of Rochester, Minn. has overseen an unprecedented season at Western Michigan, leading the Broncos to their first-ever Penrose Cup and NCHC Frozen Faceoff championship. WMU became only the second NCHC team to win both the regular-season and postseason titles in the same year.
Ferschweiler has guided the Broncos to a 32-7-1 record so far this season, with the 32 wins the most in the country and tying the WMU school record. The Broncos also tied the NCHC record for conference wins with 19 (19-4-1) this year en route to their first Penrose Cup. Western Michigan added another first at the end of March by earning the program’s first Frozen Four berth after winning the NCAA Fargo Regional. Ferschweiler steered the Broncos to a pair of 2-1 NCAA tournament wins in Fargo, tripling the program’s NCAA tournament win total after entering with only one all-time.
Ferschweiler and WMU will face a familiar foe in the NCAA Frozen Four this Thursday in St. Louis, going up against NCHC rival Denver, who the Broncos beat in double overtime to win their first NCHC Frozen Faceoff title on March 22. That win was the 100th of Ferschweiler’s head coaching career, becoming the fastest WMU head coach to reach the century mark. Puck drop Thursday at the Frozen Four is set for 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT from the Enterprise Center.
Ferschweiler was the lone Spencer Penrose Award finalist among the 10 this year to win both his conference’s coach of the year award and lead his team to the Frozen Four. Denver coach David Carle was also a Penrose Award finalist this year. Ferschweiler was a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award in 2023 as well. The Bronco alumnus is in his fourth year at the helm of Western Michigan after taking over the head job on Aug. 3, 2021.
Before becoming head coach, Ferschweiler spent two seasons as an associate head coach with the Broncos (2019-21). It was his second stint with WMU after he spent four years as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings under former WMU head coach Jeff Blashill. Prior to entering the professional coaching ranks, Ferschweiler was an assistant coach/associate head coach for WMU from 2010 to 2014.
As a player, Ferschweiler suited up for the Broncos in 116 games and amassed 95 points on 30 goals and 65 assists. He was awarded WMU’s Rob Hodge Most Valuable Player for the 1992-93 season in which he tallied 35 points, including a career-best 15 goals. He was also named the CCHA’s best defensive forward for the 1991-92 season. He received a bachelor’s degree in finance from Western Michigan in 1993.
The Spencer Penrose Award is selected by the nation’s 64 NCAA Division I men’s head coaches from the 10 finalists. To be a finalist, head coaches either won their conference coach of the year award or advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four semifinals.
The Spencer Penrose Award is named in memory of the Colorado Springs benefactor who built the Broadmoor Hotel Complex, site of the first 10 NCAA championship hockey tournaments. The NCHC’s regular-season trophy, the Julie and Spencer Penrose Memorial Cup, is named after the same benefactor and was won by Ferschweiler’s Broncos for the first time this year.
